Chương 159: Thunder

"Here, here, here! Captain! Over here!" The soldier who had been communicating via walkie-talkie earlier jogged over from the direction of the alleyway, waving frantically. Right behind him rolled two assault vehicles. Each vehicle carried five soldiers in regular fatigues and tactical vests, armed with loaded rifles. Seeing the vehicles pull up, the dozen or so civilians accompanying the soldiers immediately shrank back, retreating to the side of the road to distance themselves even further.

Screech— The two vehicles gunned their engines, closing the distance in seconds before slamming on the brakes right in front of the crowd. They angled outward in a V-shape, boxing the intersection. The soldiers piled out of the vehicles, forming a neat line. In unison, they raised their rifles, aiming directly at the crowd in the alleyway. Click-clack! The sharp, metallic sound of rounds being chambered rang out in the morning air, thick with killing intent.

"Who wanted to see me?" Ron stepped out from behind the formation, staring down the crowd. Wearing tactical gloves, he crossed his arms over his chest. His voice dripped with undisguised arrogance as he swept a contemptuous gaze over the peasants armed with crude, makeshift weapons. His eyes lingered on Bruno for barely a second. To him, this whole standoff was nothing but a comical farce.

"I did." Taking a deep breath, Ben stepped out from beside Bruno, forcing himself to stare down the dozen black muzzles leveled at them. He knew he represented the people standing behind him. He couldn't back down.

"We aren't refusing to hand over supplies. But everyone wants to know: what arrangements has the organization made for us? If we travel with the convoy to the Quarantine Zone, how will the remaining supplies be distributed? After all, we risked our lives to gather these..."

"Stop!" Ron impatiently cut Ben off. He took a step forward, and the firing squad behind him mirrored his movement. Staring down the barrels of actual firearms, the crowd began to stir with unease. However, seeing Bruno, Zack, and the other frontliners holding their ground without taking a single step back, the panic slowly subsided. Seeing how stubborn these people were, Ron finally unslung the rifle hanging around his neck and aimed it directly at Ben.

"We didn't come here to negotiate with you. And you don't have the right to negotiate with us. Step aside!"

"They're acting like a bunch of bandits!"

"Exactly!" Seeing the soldiers' conduct, angry murmurs began rippling through the crowd. The spearmen in the front row lowered their weapons into a defensive stance, while those behind them raised theirs high, preparing to throw.

"Fucking stubborn idiots! Get ready!" Seeing that the other side was completely disregarding his authority, Ron's face darkened. He raised a hand, preparing to give the order to fire.

"Captain Li, are we really shooting? Didn't we say we were just gonna scare them..." a soldier behind him whispered hesitantly. These temporary militiamen had all been normal people before the apocalypse. Some were discharged veterans, some were cops, and some were just gun-nut tech geeks. Handing them a gun to shoot zombies didn't cause them any psychological distress, but now Ron was ordering them to aim at ordinary civilians. It made the man hesitate...

"You don't believe I'll blow your brains out first?" Ron instantly whipped his rifle around, pressing the muzzle directly against the man's temple as he snarled.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" the man immediately apologized in a panic. He stood up straight and leveled his rifle at the crowd. But as soon as Ron turned away, he still angled his muzzle slightly higher. He wasn't the only one. Several other men in the squad had also quietly adjusted their aim upward by a few inches. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Ron's raised hand slashed down viciously.

"Fire!"

"Ahh—" The moment the order dropped, everyone in the crowd shrank back instinctively. The more timid ones outright screamed in terror. The spears thrown by the defenders completely lost their accuracy, clattering harmlessly against the pavement. Even Bruno, standing at the very front, quickly hoisted the concrete block in front of his face to protect his vitals, too terrified to actually throw his only piece of cover.

No matter how united their front was, they were ultimately just a group of ordinary people with zero professional training. How could they possibly stand against firearms? In that split second, Ben's biggest regret was not treating these men like actual enemies and setting up an ambush in the buildings on both sides of the street. Because he hadn't believed they would actually open fire, he had only prepared for a negotiation.

He hadn't anticipated the sheer ruthlessness of the other party—that they would dare massacre unarmed civilians in broad daylight. He didn't know where Vince was right now, but he could only pray that he would avenge them. He squeezed his eyes shut, his mind playing tricks on him as he imagined he could already smell the sulfur and gun smoke from his old days on the firing range...

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"What's going on?"... The expected deafening roar of gunfire never came. After the initial screams of terror, a bizarre silence descended over Ben's group. The people in the back rows who had tripped over each other in a panic were now sprawled on the ground, completely bewildered. Instead, a series of confused gasps and exclamations erupted from the firing squad opposite them. Ben opened his eyes to see the soldiers staring down at their rifles in utter confusion, as if looking at entirely alien objects.

"What's wrong with the trigger? It's jammed?"

"Is it broken?"

"Captain, this..." Even Ron was staring at his own rifle in utter bewilderment. He pointed the muzzle upward and squeezed the trigger with all his might, but it wouldn't budge a millimeter, as if it had been welded to the receiver.

"What the hell... Ah?!" Not only were the triggers jammed, but every single rifle suddenly felt as though it had been gripped by a massive, invisible hand. An irresistible, overwhelming force slowly yanked the weapons straight up, ripping them out of the soldiers' grips. The guns floated about a meter into the air, then slowly rotated... A dozen black muzzles turned around, aiming directly back at their original owners.

"Holy shit! It's a ghost..." Every soldier's eyes went wide with terror. They completely forgot about the peasants in front of them, staring in sheer disbelief at the lethal weapons hovering in the air. None of them dared to move a muscle, forced to watch helplessly as the cold muzzles slowly drifted closer until they pressed directly against their own foreheads. Every man could clearly see their own sweat marks still lingering on the grips, their palm prints visible in the morning light...

"You guys belong to Colonel Zhou?" A man's voice suddenly drifted down from a high vantage point to their side. Ron had no idea what was happening and didn't dare turn his head. He strained his eyes, glancing out of his periphery, and barely made out a few silhouettes standing atop the supermarket awning.

"N-no... that's not right... wait... it used to be..." Thump, thump, thump. The sound of footsteps dropping to the ground echoed, followed by the steady crunch of approaching footsteps.

"You guys belong to Colonel Ye?" The voice lowered slightly, carrying a hint of displeasure. Ron's brain went into overdrive. The unbelievable phenomenon happening right in front of him was clearly the work of some supernatural power. Combining that with the fragmented information he'd heard from Chester about this squad's mission and Evelyn's identity, his mind raced to connect the dots. This person not only knew the squad's former highest-ranking officer was Joseph Zhou, but he also knew Evelyn Ye was with them.

Just who exactly was he...

"Don't be nervous. Your answer won't determine whether you live or die. I'm just curious, to be honest..." The man finally walked into his field of view, stopping at the very front of the crowd. It was a young man with a mild, unassuming face. He looked more like a researcher or scientist than an iron-blooded military man like Joseph Zhou. This immediately made Ron think of Evelyn and her attitude toward Chester, and he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

In his mind, people like this were entirely governed by rules, logic, and long-term planning. They were easily shackled by concepts like 'the bigger picture' or 'protecting their comrades.' As long as he kept his head low, played the 'old friends' angle, and dumped all the blame on Chester, this guy wouldn't actually do anything to him.

Seeing the crowd of peasants—who had just been terrified half to death by the threat of gunfire—suddenly straighten their backs and look overjoyed as if they'd found their savior only cemented his theory.

"B-Bro! We had eyes but couldn't recognize Mount! Colonel Zhou is dead, and Colonel Ye is research personnel! Right now, the squad is under the command of Captain... Captain Zhao! I'm his deputy! My name is Ron Li!" A plan formed in Ron's head, and he quickly rattled off the background info. But the feeling of a gun barrel pressed against his forehead was unbearable, so he began speaking faster and faster.

"I didn't know you had this connection! Since you're old friends with Colonel Zhou and Colonel Ye, you must be an insider too, right? I'll take you back to our camp right now! Captain Zhao will definitely be thrilled to meet you!" As if remembering something crucial, he quickly added, "And... Colonel Ye is there too!"

"Hmm... That's great." Vince nodded. He then raised a hand and waved.

"Zoe..." Seeing the young man's expression soften as he said 'that's great,' Ron let out a massive sigh of relief. But with the gun still hovering against his forehead, he didn't dare relax completely. He could only watch tensely as the man turned his back to him and began to walk away. As soon as the man spoke, two women walked out from the side, looking at the soldiers with very strange expressions. One was stunningly beautiful and radiant, the other youthful and energetic. They're absolutely gorgeous...

Under the extreme tension, Ron's mind momentarily slipped, a single thought drifting through the adrenaline haze. If we hadn't run into this guy, dragging these two chicks back to camp would've been incredible... But in the very next second, he heard a word that plunged him straight into an icy abyss. The exact same words he himself had spoken just a minute ago.

"Fire..."